Topic: liver spots from ultrasound after mastectomy

Forum:
High Risk for Breast Cancer — Due to family history, genetics, or other factors.

So I had finally come to the conclusion to have the chemo while being pregnant after loads of research and heartache. It is scheduled to start this Friday. I went for the echocardiogram today and they also found spots on my liver. They said that many people have them but I was curious how many other people had found out they had spots from the ultrasound after their surgery. I have already had a double mastectomy about 1 1/2 months ago and the doctor said that there was just a small cell in one lymph node (only one of three) which they all excised.

They want to run more tests, each with their own set of potential problems for the fetus. I can't beleive that after I started to feel better about what had happened so far, something else new has arisen.

I am really hoping that the spots are quite common and that I could wait a few months to do any more tests as I am starting chemo this Friday anyways. I guess I will hear more from the oncologist on Thursday but I would love to hear from anyone so that I can sleep the next two nights. :-(

I had what was deemed a liver cyst on my staging CT scan last year. Being the compulsive type, I insisted on a follow-up CT this year--just had it today, actually, so we'll see what's up with the spot.

Did they give you any idea of what your spots might be? Cysts? Hemangiomas? Suspicious for mets?

I'm confused on your diagnosis--you have DCIS, but there was a cell in the lymph node? Was there an invasive compenent to your tumor? Must be, if they're giving you chemo?

They said it was ductal carcinoma and then the lymph node thing was a little bit of a grey area. My surgeon said that they did find a spot in one of the lymph nodes but that since it was only in that one place and all the other ones were clear, that they say it is node negative. So it's there but it doesn't matter. I am ER+ and pregnant so it started to spread very quickly. Since it has been about 1 1/2 months since the bilateral mastectomy, if there were any cells left in any of the remaining tissue, I am guessing it would spread quickly as I have so much estrogen running through my body right now. This is the reason why I am concerned that it may have metastisized to my liver. Plus the fact that each additional test (even if the liver is just fatty and not full of cancer cells) poses a risk to my baby. So I am just trying to get a feel for what others have experienced. I have already gone through the surgery and will be starting chemo while being pregnant but I would like to wait to do anymore things (like CT scans and an MRI) until after the baby is born.

Can they do an abdominal u/s to look at your liver? That can be useful for determining what liver spots are. I agree about waiting on a CT if at all possible. Seems like an MRI might be safe for the baby since there's no radiation involved--what have you found in your research regarding MRIs and fetuses? I don't know if the contrast dye crosses the placenta. I know that MRI is a good tool for looking at the liver,

I understand wanting to do the least amount possible imaging-wise right now, but at the same time it will be important to establish what the spots are before you start chemo, I think. That being said, I've been told liver cysts are very common, as well as fatty liver. Have they given you any indication at all of what they think the spots are?

It was in the ultrasound that they found the spots in the liver. The MRI is also quite dangerous (due to scattering off the internal organs). I guess I will have to wait until Thursday to talk to the oncologist to see if they want to change up the chemo or what they suggest. It is good to hear, though, that the fatty spots are common (even though I feel I am pretty healthy, we all eat bad food now and then and maybe I am just more susceptible). They did not know what the spots are and all that I have found on symptoms of cancer in the liver is the same for pregnancy. I think I am going to write a book when all this is done. :-)

Kiwi, interesting about the MRI being dangerous for the fetus--I didn't know that. I bet you could write a book about being pregnant with cancer--actually, that would probably be a really good project, seriously.

Have you been over to www.youngsurvival.org? There are pregnant gals over there as well, and they might have input on the imaging.

I know you said they found the live spots on the echo, but I was wondering if an abdominal u/s would look more closely at the liver? I don't know--I don't know enough about how much liver shows up on an echocardiagram. I do know that they can tell cysts pretty well from an u/s, so maybe that's why they don't think they're cysts from the echo.